27,000 Abandoned Wells

You can really see the color difference between my Trailblazer in the background and my brothers TB in the foreground. The gas mileage was close to the 20mpg hwy that was advertised. Not great, but better than the old Dakota. The dashboard is kind of plain, with lots of one-color plastic, so I can see why that gets low ratings. The three month On-Star trial subscription failed to activate. Not sure what the problem is there. They make On-Star sound so great, but I wonder how many people extend their subscription after the first year.

I saw a news article on Yahoo about how many abandoned oil wells are in the Gulf of Mexico. It turns out there are 27,000 wells out there with the potential to start leaking. The AP article says that the well beneath BP's Deepwater Horizon rig was being sealed with cement for temporary abandonment when it blew April 20, 2010. There are around 50,000 wells in the Gulf and you can see the damage that just one leak has caused. Scary stuff.

Another interesting concept is Peak Oil. That is when the production of oil starts to decrease because they can't find enough to suck out of the ground meet demand. Chris Martenson wrote an article called "Stocks and Bonds Are Now Hazardous to Your Wealth" where he explains that our economic progress has been tied to growth in oil production. And, assuming that Peak Oil is looming or already here, global economic decline will follow. Chris has a website where he explains it all in his "Crash Course" video. He sounds like a very smart guy, but I'd rather hear about people working on energy solutions, than someone who says we need to prepare now for the next financial disaster.